Glendening's 'Next Career': Ending Sprawl

Maryland Gov. Parris N. Glendening said yesterday that his "next career" will focus on promoting "smart growth" policies across the nation, but he declined to say whether he has lined up a specific job.

Glendening (D) made the announcement last night while addressing a conference of anti-sprawl activists gathered in Baltimore to honor his leadership in the smart-growth movement, which seeks to discourage suburban sprawl and encourage development in urban areas.

"I'm pleased to work with you in my next career," Glendening told about 75 people at Montgomery Park in Baltimore. "In fact, I was talking to some people today, and I said, 'I'm excited. I've got the next decade to work on exactly this issue.' "

Glendening declined to comment further.

Sources close to the governor said that he is talking with Washington-based organizations including Smart Growth America but that he hasn't finalized an employment pact.

Glendening has decided where he will live when he moves out the governor's mansion next month.

Glendening, his wife and infant daughter will lease an Annapolis townhouse for a year in a waterfront community when his term ends in mid-January, sources said.

Glendening and his wife, Jennifer Crawford, had looked at several Annapolis area homes in waterfront communities that were for sale, sources said, but decided to move to the Villages of Chesapeake Harbour while he considers his employment options.

Gov.-elect Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R) toured the governor's mansion last week, and Glendening said he would be willing to move out early so that Ehrlich, his wife and 3-year-old son could get settled before the Jan. 15 inauguration.

The Glendenings' home will be in a 450-unit waterfront townhouse and condominium community at the mouth of the Severn River.

The community was built in the mid-1980s, before the Maryland legislature passed one of the primary bay protection measures, the Critical Area Law.

As a result, the community is built at the edge of sandy beaches along the river, a design that would not be allowed under the current law, which Glendening pushed.

Lori MontgomeryLori Montgomery oversees coverage of politics, national security, health/science and America. Before becoming an editor, she was a reporter covering U.S. economic policy, with a focus on efforts to tame the national debt. Follow